25 April 2024
“The most important thing is to enjoy the process”
With qualification points for the 2026 Winter Games up for grabs, all 20 teams that came to Oestersund for the World Mixed Doubles Championship hoped that they would also be starting on an Olympic journey too.
And, as the competition has unfolded, it is clear that some are making better progress on that journey than others.
Given their performances during the week, Spain’s popular duo – Oihane Otaegi and Mikel Unanue – know only too well that they are among those with much work to do if they are to keep their Olympic campaign alive.
After six losses, they finally managed to get a win, beating France by 10-6. As Oihane said at the time, “That was a very important win – a must-win.”
Their results have given the Spanish team an opportunity to reflect during the week.
Mikel says, “This week, everybody wants the best and after six games our goal wasn’t happening. We were expecting a much better performance, and we haven’t succeeded, so now we need to have new goals.”
Mikel continues, “We’ve been talking with Dan Rafael, our coach and now we have to learn to enjoy the process. We’ve been obsessed with the Olympic Games but now, for us, it’s going to be very difficult, so now is the time to start to enjoy the process a little bit.”
This is the fifth time that Oihane and Mikel have competed at this championship, with a top ranking of 9th in 2019 in Stavanger, and Oihane also says, “We’re just happy to be here again. It’s never easy to get here. For us, every game, every year is more difficult, so we’re just pleased to be here.”
Oihane and Mikel live in San Sebastian in the north of Spain, near the Atlantic coast and close to the French border.
To practise, they normally travel to an ice-rink in Jaca, in the Pyrenees, where there is a hockey arena with a three-sheet ice-rink. But ice is not always available there, so, in a training programme that is being part-funded by the Spanish Ice Sports Federation and the Basque government, Oihane and Mikel have been training throughout Europe, including in the Netherlands and in Fuessen, Germany.
Speaking about that programme, Oihane says, “We are happy that a lot of people are helping us now.”
When talking to them, it is clear that Oihane and Mikel still maintain their enthusiasm and energy for curling.
Mikel says, “We know how well we can play, unfortunately we have not done it this week, but we love this game. We’ve received a lot from this game, and we want to keep doing it.”
And trying to define what it is that keeps them coming back for more, he adds, “It’s that mixture of happiness and all the feelings that curlers have when they lose or win a game, or do something special in a game.”
Reflecting on their own experiences and all the ups and downs they have gone through, Mikel says, “In the end, my advice to any new player would be… The most important thing is to enjoy the process.”
Engage with World Curling during the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2024 on TikTok, Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, and Weibo and by searching the hashtags #WMDCC and #curling
